Nimesh Dave - Executive Vice President of Global Cloud, Ingram Micro
Ingram Micro’s Cloud Referral Program has gone global, with the company announcing the worldwide availability of its solution aimed at encouraging resellers to drive end-customers to Ingram Micro Cloud’s new referral website.
Australia and New Zealand are among the list of almost 20 countries to be named in the rollout of the new program. Other countries include Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The program has been in the works since early last year. The company’s Vice President of Global Cloud, Renee Bergeron, told ARN in April 2016 that the Cloud Referral Program would enable channel partners to market and sell cloud services through customised banners and links featured on their websites, which are then be fulfilled via the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace.
All resulting sales and complementary services are then conducted by Ingram Micro under the partner's brand. In return, channel partners receive a commission for referring customers directly to the Cloud Marketplace.
Referring partners can then track and manage the commissions they receive from end-customer sales via a portal that features end-client details and transactional reporting. Meanwhile, Ingram Micro handles the direct customer billing, provisioning and post-sales support with the aim of helping to give resellers the time needed to focus on identifying and securing additional sales opportunities.
According to Ingram Micro, the Cloud Referral Program is set to enable current Advisor partners to continue earning commissions on existing Microsoft Office 365 Advisor subscriptions, regardless of Microsoft’s move to eliminating Office 365 Advisor partner incentives for new subscriptions – effective October 2016.
The program also gives partners the opportunity to sell net-new Office 365 subscriptions through Ingram Micro with the same level of commitment they had via the Office 365 Advisor Program, the distributor said.
“Designed for partners looking for quick and seamless entry into the cloud services market, recurring revenue streams, or a way to establish a Microsoft Cloud practice without the financial investment, the Ingram Micro Cloud Referral Program delivers the expertise, resources and tools to convert existing website traffic into cloud sales,” said Ingram Micro Executive Vice President, Nimesh Dave.
“We are pleased to now expand our Cloud Referral Program globally and provide reseller partners even more ways to profit in the cloud,” he said.
The proposed launch of the Cloud Referral Program was one of three new Cloud services delivery platforms for channel partners announced by the company at its Ingram Micro Cloud Summit last year, with the new offerings aimed at working in conjunction with the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace, and as part of the Ingram Micro Ecosystem of Cloud.
“The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace is the cornerstone of our Ecosystem of Cloud and serves as a gateway to successfully selling Cloud services for more than 30,000 partners in 18 countries,” said Bergeron at the time.
In addition to the Cloud Referral Program, the company revealed the Ingram Micro Cloud Store, which it billed as a “partner-branded, hosted e-commerce store”, and the Odin Automation (OA) Essentials downloadable cloud services automation solution.
The global launch of the Ingram Micro Cloud Referral Program comes just days after the company announced a new deal with Norton that gives partners the ability to purchase Norton cyber security solutions through the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace.
The agreement is the first of its kind globally, with the A/NZ deal acting as a pilot program for other regions as Norton parent, Symantec, looks to reinvigorate its channel drive for partners serving the sub 25 seat market.
